Cutlery



J. E. BURNS June 2, 1942.

CUTLERY Filed June 23, 1941' Patented June 2, 1942 STTES FFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in cutlery and more particularlyto bladed instruments formed of flat resilient sheet material.

An object of this invention is to provide an article of cutlery formedof sheet material having blade and handle portions and an integralreinforcing means extending along one ed e to stiffen the blade andhandle portions against relative bending.

Another object of the invention is the formation of an article ofcutlery having a blade and handle portion formed of sheet material withintegral reinforcing means along the back edge of the blade and bothedges of the handle to reinforce the same, permitting the article to bemore easily manufactured and providing for the nesting or neatlystacking of a plurality of the articles.

A further object of the invention is the provision in a knife or thelike formed of sheet material having a tapered handle and a blade with acurved back in which reinforcing means for the handle and the back ofthe blade are formed by bending the edge of the body along the back ofthe blade and the handle angularly to form said reinforcing means.

A still further object is the provision in a knife construction in whichthe blade and handle portions are reinforced against bending by integralreinforcing means stamped from the edge of the body of the knife to forma trough-shaped handle for permitting nesting of the knives insuperposed relation.

Other and further objects of the invention will be hereinafterdescribed, and the novel features thereof defined by the appendedclaims.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a perspective view of a knife constructed in accordance withthe present invention;

Figure 2 is a top edge view looking towards the back of the knife asshown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an edge view looking towards the cutting edge of the knife;

Figure 4 is an end view of the knife;

Figures 5, 6 and 7 are views taken respectively on the lines 55, 6-5 and1-4 of Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 8 is an enlarged cross sectional view through the blade portionof the knife, and showing more particularly the nesting of a pluralityof knives; and

Figure 9 is a side view of the knife embodying my invention and showinga slightly modified form of blade.

Like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the severalfigures of the drawing wherein I denotes a knife generally formed offiat sheet material in any suitable manner such as by stamping, andhaving a blade portion 2 and handle portion 3. Along the rear edge 4 ofthe blade 2 and the handle portion 3 is formed an angularly bentreinforcing flange 5. This flange extends from the rear extremity of theknife substantially to the tip 8 and is tapered at 5a from the handleportion toward the tip. The rear edge 4 of the blade 2 is preferablyslightly curved longitudinally to effect a stiffening of the taperedportion 5a of the laterally bent flange, and also to permit theformation of the blade in the more or lessconventional curved backdesign. The cutting edge of the blade as indicated at 1 may be serratedin the conventional manner to facilitate the cutting operation as in thecase of a bread knife and the like.

A second laterally bent reinforcing flange 8 is formed along theopposite edge of the handle, and this flange as well as the flange 5extending from the tip of the blade along the other edge of the handle,is flared slightly outwardly. The ends of these two flanges are curvedat the end of the handle as indicated at 9 and Ill. The outward flaringor angular disposition of the two flanges 5 and 8 provides atrough-shaped opening II as best seen in Figure 8, which permits aplurality of the knives to be neatly and conveniently nested.

Referring to Figure 9, this discloses a knife with a considerablyshorter blade in which the cutting edge I is curved permitting the knifeto be more easily manipulated and a greater portion of the cutting edgeto be utilized, whereas in the more conventional shape of blade, asdisclosed in Figure 1, when used as a table knife the tip portion ismainly used for cutting.

In disposing the laterally bent flange 5 along the back edge of theblade and at an angle to the face of the blade, this flange not onlynests against the corresponding flange 5 of a superimposed knife asshown in Figure 8 when the knives are packed for shipment or storage,but in bread knives or large slicing knives also acts as a sort oflateral deflector when a knife is used for slicing, and more or lessseparates or deflects the slices as the knife passes through thematerial being out.

In bread or large slicing knives the reinforcing flange between the sideof the knife blade and the outer edge of the flange may be somewhatcurved in cross section. This would increase the deflecting elTect ofthe blade on the material being sliced, reducing the tendency of thereinforcing flange to strike or hang on the top of the sliced materialand also stiffening the lateral reinforcing flange against bending.

In forming my improved knife, I preferably employ a sheet of flatresilient material such as stainless steel stamp-ed out in a blank whichincludes the reinforcing flange 5 along one edge and the handlereinforcing flange 8 along the other edge. The blank is preferablynotched as indicated at 12 in Figure l to permit the flange 8 to be bentlaterally with respect to the cutting edge of the blade. The flanges 5and 8 are thereafter bent laterally from the same side of the knife, orotherwise as preferred, to form the finished knife as shown in Figure 1with the trough-shaped opening I I between the flanges 5 and 8 on thehandle. For some purposes, the flanges 5 and/or 8 may be bent in theopposite direction from that shown in the drawing.

Ihe corners formed between the side of the blade and. handle portionsand the laterally bent reinforcing flanges 5 and 8 are preferablyrounded slightly to form a smooth curved surface in order to reduce thetendency of grease or food particles from accumulating in these corners,and the entire surface of the knife and flange may thus be more easilywashed and kept in a clean and sanitary condition.

While the specific details have been herein shown and described, theinvention is not confined thereto, as changes and alterations may bemade without departing from the spirit thereof as defined by theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In an article of cutlery formed of sheet material, abody comprisingan integrally formed blade and handle portion having an angularlydisposed integral reinforcing flange extending along one edge of theblade and handle portions to substantially the opposite ends of thebody, and a second laterally bent reinforcing flange extending along theedge of the handle portion of the body opposite to the first-mentionedreinforcing flange, said flanges extending laterally away from the sameside of the body and flaring away from each other to form atrough-shaped opening in the handle portion.

2. In an article of cutlery, a body formed of resilient sheet materialhaving a blade at one end and a handle portion at its other end, anelongated reinforcing flange projecting angularly from one edge of theblade and handle portions of the body and curved longitudinally alongthe blade portion of the body.

3. In a bladed instrument formed of resilient sheet material, a bodyhaving an integral blade and handle portion and an integral elongatedtapered flange formed along one edge of the handle and blade portions ofthe body and curved longitudinally along the back of the blade portion.

4. In an article of cutlery formed of sheet material, a body havingintegral cutting blade and handle portions, one edge of said body beingbent laterally along the blade and handle portions to form an angularlydisposed reinforcing flange extending substantially the full length ofthe body, said handle portion being bent along its edge opposite to theaforementioned flange to provide a second reinforcing flange along thehandle, both of the flanges projecting from the same side of the body toform a trough-shaped opening in the handle between the said flanges.

JOSEPH E. BURNS.

